Indus Valley Terracotta Cups with geometric decoration. - 75 mm

Early Bronze Age bowl from Tepe Sialk tradition with geometric decoration, ca. 4000–3500 BCE.

Characteristic painted ceramic bowl of the late Chalcolithic or early 4th millennium BCE, probably from the Iranian highland and stylistically closely related to Tepe Sialk ceramics (Period III).

The bowl, made of beige to ocher-colored clay, has a deep, evenly rounded body with a slightly inset standing base and a nearly vertical edge. The exterior bears a monochrome dark brown paint with geometrically abstracted decoration. Wide horizontal bands structure the wall; above, vertical groups of lines, angles, triangles, and hook-shaped motifs alternate. The restrained color scheme and the rhythmic arrangement of the geometric elements are characteristic of the highly developed painted ceramics of this period.

An especially close parallel is found in the Louvre Museum (Inv. AO 17811 / S 308): https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010142560 The vessel there, excavated at Tepe Sialk, is described as a deep bowl with geometric decoration from Tepe Sialk Period III-3 and is also dated to 4000–3500 BCE. At 7.9 cm in height, it nearly matches the height of the exemplar presented here.

Due to this close typological and chronological agreement, assigning this piece to the Tepe Sialk cultural complex or to the corresponding ceramic tradition of the Iranian highland is more plausible than the broader designation “Indus Valley.”

Culture/Region: Iranian highlands, Tepe Sialk tradition
Dating: ca. 4000–3500 BCE
Material: beige clay, dark brown monochrome paint
Dimensions: 75 × 98 × 98 mm

Condition:
Assembled from fragments, a few smaller parts added

Reference:
Musée du Louvre, Department of Oriental Antiquities:
https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010142560

Provenance:
Acquired in 2026 from a German art trade, previously since the 1990s in a Munich private collection.

The invoice is available and will be provided to the buyer in copy.